Australian Army MRH-90 helicopters to be buried in landfill

[CIC]

The Army MRH-90 Taipan helicopter fleet to be dismantled and buried in landfill.

Story in Melbourne Herald-Sun (behind a paywall)
Heraldsun.com.au | Subscribe to the Herald Sun for exclusive stories (https://www.heraldsun.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=HSWEB_WRE170_a&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.heraldsun.com.au%2Fnews%2Fnational%2F grounded-taipan-helo-fleet-to-be-disassembled-and-buried-rather-than-sold%2Fnews-story%2Feec829370c16691e233d67c739cb094d&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium&v21=LOW-Segment-1-SCORE)

Sky News has the story:
Defence dismantles Taipan helicopter fleet | Sky News Australia (https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/defence-and-foreign-affairs/defence-dismantles-taipan-helicopter-fleet/video/65ce282f2d70730ff060b11baa89e7b4)

[Ex FSO GRIFFO]

That's a l a b o r Govt for ya....couldn't 'part them out' and sell to those who continue to operate them....ALL of Europe included.


Yeah, I heard the gearboxes went to 'someone' but.....there's just gotta be a better way to some 'cost recovery'....even if its back to the MANUFACTURER.....for selling us a 'lemon'.....

WOT? NO 'warranty' / 'fit for purpose' condition to the sale.
Better Get Hardly Normal onto that!!

And, 'tis Christmas....for some.....would be IF someone would bury certain 'pollies' in said landfill....


.

[Cedrik]

Which government ordered those choppers? Isn't there usually an agreement with military orders that the aircraft can't be onsold or used civilly, eg Blackhawks/Seahawks/Huey's?

[swh]

Give them to Ukraine

[Thirsty]

Are they going to join the Harley Davidsons, still in unopened crates and waxy oil paper, buried in Puckapunyal?

[nonsense]

That's a l a b o r Govt for ya....couldn't 'part them out' and sell to those who continue to operate them....ALL of Europe included.

"According to the 'Asia Pacific Defence Reporter' (APDR), the decision was signed off in secret to destroy them rather than try to sell them.""The publication suggests some expensive components such as gear boxes are being sold to New Zealand."

[Duck Pilot]

This decision purely demonstrates the total lack of accountability within government.

Daddy, my 45 helicopters that you bought me for Christmas are broken! Chuck them in the rubbish son, and don't worry about the cost or environmental impacts as we won't tell mummy - keep it a secret son!!!!

Also not forgetting that government decided to purchase a lemon that's been plagued with problems for the AAD that can't refuel in Hobart. And there was the 19 million given away to consultants to decide that it wasn't a good idea to build an airstrip in Antarctica.

[drpixie]

Are they going to join the Harley Davidsons, still in unopened crates and waxy oil paper, buried in Puckapunyal?

And the squadron of Spitfires :)

[OZBUSDRIVER]

Hold the phone, Al Capone. Wasn't the MRH90 part of the sweetener for Australia to take on the A380? And, if this is the case, wouldn't there be a clause that we would not be able to dispose of them into the industry similar to the US lend-lease arrangement?

[Ascend Charlie]

They can join all those beautiful red cedar dining tables taken from the Officers' Messes around the country and buried in a scrape on Amberley base. Replaced with aluminium and formica tables, "easier to clean".

[Gne]

They can join all those beautiful red cedar dining tables taken from the Officers' Messes around the country and buried in a scrape on Amberley base. Replaced with aluminum and formica tables, "easier to clean".
But useless for carrier deck landings after a Dining In.

Gne

[rodney rude]

Good call GNE bit I reckon the last carrier deck landing was probably about 1989 - you better stop that, pwecious may hurt himself.

[Capn Rex Havoc]

Raaaaalph was the best at carrier deck landings. Doing them naked reduced friction …..

[Flingwing47]

Or the WW2 aircraft and parts still buried at Oakey?

[The Banjo]

Raaaaalph was the best at carrier deck landings. Doing them naked reduced friction …..

His arrestor hook may not have fared too well...

[rodney rude]

Raaaaalph was the best at carrier deck landings. Doing them naked reduced friction …..

Was that before or after he bit the OC's Mrs' leg under the head table?

Happy Xmas Gulu

[helispotter]

...Also not forgetting that government decided to purchase a lemon that's been plagued with problems for the AAD that can't refuel in Hobart. And there was the 19 million given away to consultants to decide that it wasn't a good idea to build an airstrip in Antarctica.

I realise this is drifting from the topic, but the refuelling of the icebreaker should be able to be resolved fairly easily with the use of a fuel bunker barge. I am surprised there haven't already been such facilities in place for larger ships visiting Hobart in the past. As for the airstrip plans, I hadn't heard of that expenditure on consultancies until this post, but soon afterwards came across this ABC News article about it:https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-23/antarctic-runway-shelved-after-19-million-spent-on-consultants/103259026

Might be worth a new thread being created about that? How can $19M be spent before it is clear the pin needs to be pulled on a project?

Update: There is a thread on that topic under "Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific" titled: 'A real bad precedent': Australia criticised for Antarctica airport plan. I placed the link to the ABC article there.

[lucille]

Have these Taipans been grounded anywhere else for the same reason? Or is this purely u inquest to Australia?

[helispotter]

Have these Taipans been grounded anywhere else for the same reason? Or is this purely... Australia?

Following the loss of the Australian Army MRH90 off the Queensland coast, the New Zealand Defence Force also briefly grounded their NH90s. However that was lifted fairly soon, presumably after initial findings from the accident were passed on from Australia(?). I have not read of any other 'groundings' around the world.

The reason for the ongoing grounding of the fleet in Australia is intertwined with the prior planned retirement of the type. The Defence Minister made it clear a few months back that the timeframe for completion of the investigation of the accident would be such that continued grounding up to retirement of the fleet was inevitable. I sense a degree of politics mixed into the decisions too, once claims start being made (from elements of the opposition) about "dangerous" helicopters.

There are two other threads which cover this subject: In "Rotorheads" see "NH-90 Problems". In "Military Aviation" see "MRH-90 crash australia". Under the former link, Cyclic Hotline provided an item with summary of planned early retirements of various of the NH-90 fleet in post #279. Such early retirements include from Australia, Belgium, Sweden and Norway.

[aroa]

Just shows that Governments don’t give a rats about the taxpayer. Must be plenty of surplus dollars lying around that a billion dollars worth of helicopters can just be chucked in a hole.
Surely the technical problems are not so insurmountable that fixes couldn’t be made.
SeaSprite all over again in $ terms of wastage 1.2 bil
Disgusting in the extreme

[aroa]

Word is that Ukraine asked for the Taipans. No can do apparently. Pathetic.
Cant allow that. When put to good use in operations in Ukraine, what a bloody embarrassment to the aGoverment and the Army that would be. Can’t have that.
Ukraine bleeds arid Australia looks the other way. Disgusting.

[cooperplace]

They can join all those beautiful red cedar dining tables taken from the Officers' Messes around the country and buried in a scrape on Amberley base".

Did they really? Keswick barracks officer mess had gorgeous dining tables when I was last there in the 70s.